The present invention relates to containers for the storage of articles of jewelry and, more particularly, to a container in which a wide variety of pieces of jewelry can be stored and displayed in an organized fashion and readily retrieved therefrom.
A wide variety of containers adapted for housing many items of jewelry have heretofore been devised and marketed. Some merely comprise a lidded box, sometimes compartmented, which occupy relatively large areas of dresser surface and in which the items of jewelry often become entangled with one another as the capacity of the box is neared. Another class of jewelry containers comprises articles made out of foldable sheet materials, such as fabric, provided with compartments or other means for holding items of jewelry. Exemplary of this approach to the problem are Bergeron Pat. No. 5,025,918; Mink patent No. 4,401,219; Miller patent No. 4,821,883 and Handy et al Pat. No. 4,388,959. Some of these, such as that shown in Mink Pat. No. 4,401,219, can be hung from a hanger hook or the like while others, such as that of Handy et al, can be folded upon themselves and/or folded and carried in the manner of a handbag, as in Bergeron. Another class of jewelry containers comprises rigid or hard-case containers, usually comprising compartmented and hingedly interconnected structures. Examples of this class are disclosed in LeSage Pat. No. 4,324,446; Snyder U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,319.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved jewelry container in which a large number of a variety of items of jewelry, such as chains, necklaces, brooches and earrings, can be protectively stored, displayed and organized in individualized compartments without becoming entangled or intermingled and, further, in which all or some of certain ones of the compartments, as desired, can easily be exposed to view to facilitate the insertion or retrieval of jewelry. In addition, it is also an object of the invention to provide a dual-purpose separable component which, when detached from the main component of the container, can be utilized as a travel bag for transporting a desired selection of jewelry items. These, and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear.